


That One Time When Harry Was Totally Gay

by orphan_account



Category: Magicians (2007), Mitchell and Webb
Genre: Cute, Fluff, M/M, Magic, Magicians, Oneshot, Sweet, balls, kiss, shed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-28
Updated: 2014-09-28
Packaged: 2018-02-19 03:19:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2372597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The shed is a mess, Harry's going mad and Karl has glass under his arse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That One Time When Harry Was Totally Gay

The shed behind Harry's house had initially started out as an overspill for his storage van, with neatly organised shelves and clear labels defining what was where. There were also two camp chairs and a kettle, as it provided an area for himself and Karl to practise without getting in the way of Linda (who had given up her magical career quite thankfully and returned to 'backing dancing'), who was prone to throwing whatever she was holding when surprised.

Six months after its construction, it was anarchy.

As the two invented more and more tricks, and acquired equipment for other, already well-known tricks, the space slowly filled up with all manner of ropes, belts, balls, masks and other paraphernalia.

“Karl, there's no way we can fit anything else in here. Look at it!”

In the two years since the magicians had been re-united, arguments had been infrequent and usually involved some kind of magic, and thus neither were particularly eager to break that spell and argue about the shed.

“We'll have to clear it out, then.” Karl reluctantly replied, glancing first at the overflowing shelves, and then at Harry, who looked somewhere between cross and resigned.

“Right. Well. Let's begin, then.” With an awkward side-shuffle, Harry entered the packed shed and picked up a large box labelled 'Glitter balls'. “Kids don't really go for the glitter aspect of the trick, do they? We could get rid of these.”

“No!” Karl shook his head empathetically. “They're a niche gag, they keep the trick interesting.”

With a sigh, Harry dropped them again. “What about the sponge balls, then? We don't need them all.”

“The sponge ones are the original, the instantly recognizable aspect of our act. We _have_ to keep them.”

* * *

 

Seven boxes of balls later, Harry was ready to kill a man, specifically Karl. Wooden balls demonstrated skill, exploding balls were exciting, light-up balls were good for badly lit magic gigs...at this rate, the shed would end up with more in it at the end than it started with.

“How about the glass balls?”

“Oh, we _can't_ get rid of them!” Karl looked aghast. “The audience's face when they smash!”

A half scream, half sigh hissed out from between Harry's lips, and with a sudden surge of frustration he threw the box down, feeling a touch of satisfaction when the tinkling of smashing glass was clearly heard. Karl blinked.

“Calm down, Harry.”

Without missing a beat, Harry reached across the boxes and found a foam ball, and in one smooth movement threw it directly at Karl's head. Before Karl could react, he grabbed another one and threw it slightly harder, a twisted smile coming to his lips. Confused, Karl backed up to the door...only for Harry to reach behind him and lock it, pushing the key into his trouser pocket and advancing on Karl with the box of foam balls.

“We-” a ball hit Karl's nose, “-are getting rid of-” another ball smacked off of his forehead, “-all of the balls except for these.”

“Harry?”

“The shed's going to take us bloody _hours,_ Karl!” Harry exclaimed, the pitch of his voice rising in agitation. “We need to get rid of some of it!”

Karl laughed nervously. “Okay, Harry, we'll get rid of the balls, just calm down and unlock the door.”

Harry responded by throwing another ball, which bounced neatly off of Karl's mouth before landing back into the box of balls. What the  _fuck_ was Harry doing?

“Open the door, mate, this is getting weird.”

Before Karl let Harry respond, however, he lithely slid past him and selected his own box of balls, a small plastic tub of 'Explosive balls'. 

“Don't do this, Harry.”

Harry grinned, before tipping the balls over Karl's head, the brightly coloured foam spheres rolling everywhere at once. Instantly, Karl threw back an explosive ball, which true to form shattered upon contact with Harry's body, letting out an anticlimactic puff of grey smoke. With a sudden shout of laughter which sounded bizarrely hysterical, Harry sat down on a patch of floor which was not covered in magic tricks and rested his head on his knees.

“Harry?”

Karl knelt down beside Harry, feeling as if the last couple of minutes had been some bizarre sketch, or that perhaps Harry had lost his mind. Harry's head snapped up.

“I'm going mad. I need a break. Magic is fucking _ridiculous._ Karl, we make our living from throwing balls around and pretending to decapitate people. I am going on holiday.”

Karl began to laugh too, flopping right down on the floor and resting back against a guillotine as laughter overtook him. Harry clutched his stomach as he shrieked with his strange, feminine laughter, before slipping down into a lying down position, his head coming to a rest in Karl's lap. For a few moments, the two shook with laughter together, before Karl suddenly became uncomfortably and acutely aware of the fact that Harry's head was pressing firmly down onto his penis, and the shell from the exploding ball was underneath his arse, poking him sharply through the denim of his jeans.

“This is...odd.” Karl commented, staring down at Harry, who suddenly stopped his laughter and hand clapping and stared up at Karl. With seemingly fluid motion, he sat up and briefly kissed Karl on the lips, dumbstriking him, before leaping up, unlocking the shed door and walking away nonchalantly.

By the time Karl had recovered from his surprise, Harry had driven away to the Thomas Cooks shop in town.

Neither ever mentioned the ball trick again.

 


End file.
